Divine Sense Cultivation

"Yu, you are more outstanding than I am!"

Fugaku was that kind of man; although he cared about his reputation, he would frankly admit it when someone surpassed him.

"What should we do next?" At this moment, Fugaku no longer viewed Yu as a child, but instead adopted a serious attitude to ask for his opinion.

"Heh." A smile tugged at the corner of Yu's mouth. "Father, we must meet all changes by remaining unchanged. Do you know why I had you obtain the Third Hokage's written authorization for the clan's relocation?" A profound light flickered in Yu's eyes.

Fugaku was no fool; he understood Yu's meaning instantly. "Yu, are you saying the Third Hokage and the others will go back on their word?" Fugaku's eyes widened.

"Father, do you think the village has the spare resources to pay for our Uchiha clan's relocation while the border conflict is so intense?" Yu said, his tone light and breezy.

Fugaku fell into deep thought. After pondering for a moment, he shook his head. Having lived through the Second and Third Great Ninja Wars, he knew that war was a matter of economics. Why would the village demand the Uchiha move at such a time? Could it be...

A shiver instantly coursed through Fugaku's entire body.

"The village intended from the very beginning to pay nothing at all while forcing the Uchiha to move out of our ancestral lands."

"Ding-dong! It seems Father isn't a dull man after all," Yu said with a teasing tone.

Across from him, Fugaku's face stiffened. "Have some respect! Be careful, or I'll tell your mother!"

Yu's expression froze, then he reacted. "Heh, I didn't expect Father to be the type to tattle. How embarrassing!"

"Hmph! Mikoto is my wife. Since you won't listen, it is only natural for me to ask your mother to discipline you."

Yu was choked up once again. He hadn't expected his usually stern father to make jokes about his own wife, and he was even more surprised that he could do so with such a straight face.

But there was no helping it; as the saying went, every force has its match. The greatest weapon against an Uchiha was gentleness, and Yu found his mother's gentleness to be equally lethal.

Watching the stunned Yu, Fugaku felt a secret sense of satisfaction. That'll teach you, little brat, for never being serious with your father. Know your place now! No matter how outstanding you are, I am still your father.

"Alright, Father, I don't need to say anything more about what comes next, right? Once the high-level officials choose to act this way, we must be firm. The village won't tear their face off with us, at least not for now. Maintaining a state of 'fighting without breaking' with the higher-ups is our current strategy." Yu said, his face turning serious.

Fugaku nodded in silence.

"If there's nothing else, I'm going upstairs to rest." Without waiting for Fugaku's reply, Yu trotted upstairs. It was simply too humiliating to have been outmaneuvered by his cheap father today.

Watching Yu hurry upstairs, a gratified smile tugged at the corners of Fugaku's mouth. He was very satisfied with his eldest son; he had both courage and strategy. What more could a father ask for? Thinking of this, Fugaku strolled toward the kitchen.

Mikoto, who was busy working, didn't quite understand the situation when her husband walked in, especially when Fugaku picked up a plate to help her clean.

Mikoto widened her beautiful eyes in shock. She reached out a fair, jade-like hand and pressed it against Fugaku's forehead. "Fugaku, are you feeling alright today?"

Mikoto's face was filled with worry, which left Fugaku feeling helpless. "Mikoto, I think Yu is right sometimes. Perhaps I have been a bit chauvinistic. You've worked hard for this family over the years!"

Mikoto was moved, and she gently stroked Fugaku's cheek. "You are my husband; you have to face the storms outside all by yourself. The pressure on the clan must have been very difficult for you, my husband. What is a little housework compared to that? As for the chauvinism, that was just Yu's concern for me; you shouldn't take it to heart."

At this moment, Fugaku looked quietly at Mikoto, the woman who had never once complained to him, and said nothing more.

Fugaku stepped forward gently and embraced Mikoto, the couple enjoying this moment of peace.

However, upstairs, Itachi wore a bitter expression. He hadn't intended to eavesdrop on his brother and father, but his curiosity had gotten the better of him, and he had pressed his ear against the floorboards to listen to their entire conversation.

His heart was filled with pain. He felt that his brother's and father's perspectives were too narrow, completely failing to understand everything from the village's standpoint. Yet, these were the brother and father he loved most.

A flash of red light flickered in his young eyes. He clenched his fists, walked slowly back to his bed, and lay down, staring at the ceiling, lost in thought.

The next day, Yu rose early as usual. He didn't intend to go to the Ninja Academy today. He had only attended in the first place to obtain a graduation certificate and integrate into this world. Now that he had his Five Sword Clones, Yu naturally wouldn't return to such a boring place.

With his clones, Yu no longer needed to collect Gratitude Points and Malice Points personally; he could simply arrange for his clones to do it. After all, his External Incarnation was connected to his Divine Sense.

As long as the five clones remained within the range of his Divine Sense, it was as if he were there in person. Furthermore, controlling the clones was a great exercise for his Divine Sense, as it required him to multitask.

Thinking of this, Yu began to make arrangements. Based on the maximum range of his Divine Sense, he decided to send one clone to the Uchiha's backyard to identify medicinal herbs.

He arranged for another to go to school with Itachi and Izumi to study. After all, he hadn't forgotten that there were fixed "leeks" at the school—a harvest he could reap every single day.

He could slack off when he had nothing to do and tease Izumi; he could harvest thousands of Malice Points in a single day. Besides, Izumi was his treasure; Yu couldn't go a day without her now.

As for the other three clones, Yu planned to keep one in the clan grounds and send two into the village to do good deeds and earn more Gratitude Points.

As for Yu himself? Naturally, he would stay home and cultivate diligently. After all, as the main body, if he didn't work hard and relied entirely on his clones to slack off, that would only happen in his dreams. If he didn't cultivate for a day, his cultivation wouldn't progress, and he had reached the point where he needed time to accumulate his strength.

The further he progressed, the more he would need this kind of self-cultivation. After all, if he wanted to be an all-around cultivator, there was simply too much for him to learn.

After arranging his clones, Yu sat cross-legged on his bed and began to cultivate diligently.

Early in the morning, as Itachi waited for his brother to finish helping their mother with the chores, he felt something different about his brother.

Compared to his usual calm and natural aura, the brother before him—though his tone and mannerisms were the same—was now filled with an ethereal, wind-like quality.

Itachi understood what was happening in an instant, recalling the five clones his brother had summoned yesterday; one of them had possessed that very same aura.

Itachi pursed his lips, wanting to say something, but when he saw his brother look over, he felt a strange sense of distance. In the end, when Yu took his hand, he said nothing at all.

A faint shadow fell over his heart; he suddenly felt that his brother was drifting further and further away from him.

Time passed quickly, and the sun hung high in the sky. Yu, having emerged from his meditative state, felt the Gratitude and Malice Points he had accumulated throughout the morning, and his heart was filled with joy.

Of course, his Divine Sense was also being depleted rapidly. He discovered that controlling his clones wasn't without cost. Perhaps he didn't feel it while controlling one or two, but controlling five at once meant he had to pause one or two of them, waiting for his Divine Sense to recover beyond the consumption rate before he could maintain this state of multitasking.

However, the gains outweighed the flaws. Despite the minor drawbacks, the harvest was significant. Just from the cycle of using and recovering his Divine Sense, his range had increased by half a meter from the original hundred-meter radius. This was just the result of half a day; if it were a full day, Yu estimated he could gain a meter using this method.

As long as he had time, he would eventually have no secrets in the entire Konoha, and even the Scroll of Seals he had always craved would no longer be out of reach.

Not to mention that in just half a day, he had harvested 600 Gratitude Points and a staggering 3,000 Malice Points; at this rate, he would gain 1,200 Gratitude Points and 6,000 Malice Points per day.

If nothing out of the ordinary occurred, it would take him exactly 100 days to raise his cultivation to the next stage of Refining Spirit to Void.

Heh, the Great Dao is within reach! Yu felt a surge of excitement in his heart. Compared to others who required decades or even centuries, he only needed a hundred days—and that was assuming no major events took place. If a significant event were to occur, and he were to stir up emotions amidst the chaos, that time could be cut at least in half.

However, just as Yu thought the day would pass by normally, a determined-looking youth accompanied by two others blocked the path of Yu, Itachi, and Izumi as school let out.